Ventilating tunnels.



PATBNTBD JULY 14. 190s.

2 sums-snm 1.

INVENTOR zomeys,

WITNEssEsf Jrs! No. 393,049; PATENTEDJULY 14, 190s.

IL BLAGKMAN;

` VBNTILATING TUNNELS.

APILIOATION FILED DBO. 20. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,HENRY BLAcKnAnoF New, YRK, N. Y.

vEN'r'InA'rI'NG 'rUNNELsQ .specification er Letters Patent. Patented July 14, 190s.

Application me@ December 2o, 190s. sereine. 358,744.'

.To-all tvhom "it may "concertar" r i i Be it known that I, 'HENRY BLAcKMAN, a* citizen of the United States, Aresiding in the .borough .of Manhattan, city', county, v and lState of .New York," have invented certain new and useful Improvements" in Ventilating Tunnels, of which the following is a 'specification. I

'Inmyapplicati'on for patent for improve ments in Ventilating and purifyingthe atmos-A phere of' tunnels (filed April-f 1 6', `19.06, N o."l

v31'1,938) IV have".` described "a structure inwhich 'theatmosphereis purified by provid-k ing openings at points intermediate between numerous lentrances in a subway, the foul air (or smoke incase of fire) being withdrawnat such intermediate points sofas to maintainal o current of air entering the tunnel or subwayy entrances in freshcon'dition, 'andpassing to the intermediate points,fan d thencefout.

The present application" isvin'tended to :cover broadlyaventilation by the. use of such i openings, being based if affstructulre em`v bodying the samegeneric ideafbut present-y mg certain advantagesiri the" ,separate fea-v tures -of construction; the various improvements in detail being deiined'n the claims 'hereinafter and described in detailin connec" line 3?-3-,01 Fig.` 1.

Atl the point-at fio which. .l

'Figure 1 is a' longitudinal 'section throughtion With the'embodiment of. the invention illustrated'linthe accompanying drawings a ,subway taken' approximately en 'the lineI 1-1'of 2, and Fig..2"is a transverse sec'- tion takenapproximately. onthe line 242 of Figli. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionv on the which the airl is 'to be ex-V hausted, there is provided yla [chamber atthe sideof fthe tunnel or subway,. and the "air from the tunnel is passed intothis chamber and" thenceout," esca-pingeither at the side'- walk or other surface immediately overhead ya.nl iinberoi" uses.A suph a chamber 1s to provide a large outlet 5o l o. l or throught chimneys or other .special lvents 45' provided for the pu ose. yThis' special chamber at"A the side of t e tunnel, and communicating with the air within, is'capablej of A valuable function-'of fdr the air passing out of the tunnel'so that air, whenezhais'ted through' a sidewalk, to li'ow ata very moderate velocity tdaigifiid any' disagreeable effect u on personsmpassing over the pavement,-l T advantageous result is lndependentot the 'means-provided for-causing the passage" of thefair out of the tunnel. For causing such an outilow ofthe airvfromthe tunnel, it

is` preferable to. employa fan or similar de- .vice and the side chamber provides a convenient space for locating one or more fans with their inlets communicating with the tunnel and-their. outlets with the chamber.

Y. It sometimes happens that for various causes vt rains' far`e'stopped in 'such tunnels at points "between the entrances and for so long a time that passengers are compelled to get out of the ytrains and walk to the nearest-entrance.

This is a dangerous matter by-reason of the darkness, the possible passing trains, and the liability .toiinjury from contact with electric conductors where such are employed. vA very important utility in the said chambers referred to is the possibility of-using them as emergency exits and thus bringing the points at which passengers can leave the tunnel much nearer to each 'other than whereonly 'the' entrances can be used for such purpose.

The's'ide chambers may also be arranged to 'form traps, below lthe pointlat which the airpasses out fromrthe tunnel so aslto catch any water which might enter at thepoint of final discharge vof 'the air, and carry it oif to the sewer. The chambers may also carry ,screens forvretarding theivelocity of outiow g5 of air,- and :for preventing or .restricting the entrance of dirt,`1and may carry :tire hose and various other'device's.

Referring to the drawings,` the tunnel or subway proper is indicated atA and alongside of itis a chamber B communicating with the tunnel through any desired number of openings C and 'communicating with the outer atmosphere through the sidewalk D or any other part of. he overhead pavement. A' chamber of'thi's 'sort' will ventilate the vtunnell to a considerable extent without any .ether apparatus, the passage of trains at the 'point where thel openings C. are arranged causing a certain outflow of air through such 100 openili s", which outflow is only partially bal- -anced' y the'inlow after the train o passes these points. Also the difference in temper'ature between 'the air below and that .'abOie ordinarily eilect considerable ven- 105 tilation. -v

Valves are provided 'to' serve-"to cut oif communication between the tunnel andl the side chamber whenever desired.'v Swinging valves or dampers E maybe used for this 110 other suitable means preferably accessibleV purpose, mounted on shafts F, I eperated by worm gearsGvand hand wheels or by any from within the chamber B. vFor example the gearing Vand 'hand wheels may be arranged in recesses J formed in the tunnel Kfor the purpose.v g Notwithstanding the Withdrawal of the bad air from the tunnel by reason of the pasendl of each of the openin s sage of trains and by natural circulation due. 4t'o the dlerenes-of temperature it is. generthrough screen doors R, andone side of Whic fis formed" by the tunnel wallK, and 'the'.top

of which is closed, the outer side andv bottom', however, being formedof gratings S and 'T4 respeetivelythrough which'the .air escapes in fulv volume-fand without substantial` back pressure 'upon the fan ybut at a very much slower velocity because of the much greater area or aggregate cross-section of the several' passages." The air after esca ing romthe inner chambers Q, passes into t ev main cham-l ber' and out through'a grating U forming the 35 sidewalk-or pavement and arrangedwith oblique openings to delect'the -air-toward the curb. One or more ladders V may be pro- Y vided at vsuitable points and passing through the floor-or grating Twith or without a tra door for obtaining access to the hand Whee s n H or other devices within the inner chamber.

' There may also be providedwithin this cham- -ber a pair of electrlc indicators Wand X and one or moreA electric. lamps Y preferably arfor measuring -the current used in vthe ,fansj orin the propelling ofvtrains, Vand the side'. chamber may carry various other apparatus for investigating orcontrolling. the current.- The upl er Wall of the inner chambers Q, is

ran ed near the indicators .to facilitate-.the real mg thereof. .These'indicators may be prefera ly a trough Z having a grating a for a cover, and adapted to receive water coming in through the sidewalk'grating U,`the water being carried ofi from the trough Z b means .of a pipe b leading through a trap of t e usual sort to thesewer c.. For reventing choking Vof the trough Z or the pipe'b, -one or more dirt catchers are rovided, eaelh'consistingof a coarse screen above a iinestgreen e, both screens being readily removableupward to facllitate cleaning.l The grating U, itwill be understood, isalso removable, preferably inI short sections. g V The outlet openings 'C from the tunnel' and the ap aratus connected therewith are preferably ocated at a point adjacent to the roof 'of the tunnel so as to take out the warmest air of the tunnel. Where the chamber B is to be used asan emergency exit. for passengers, a doorf is arranged preferably on a level with the Hoor of the tunnel and opening out ward from the tunnel so that the pressure of air in the chamber .B will tend to close the doorv tightly and 'so prevent thev escape of such air back intothe tunnel. 'The door f leads through an opening or assagewa Vg preferably into a lower cham r -k -wit a .similar to the upper chambers and for a similar pu j The main cham rB preferably extends below' the gratingj to form a pit l for the collection of water or debris of any sort, thel water beingpumped up by means. of a pump mdriven by a .motor 11, controlled by a-switch 0,'the water be' charged into the sewerc'as shown. i

sewer is located as shown ato', below the botf tom of the chamberv l, then the water from water from the. overhea trough Z may be led l straight. into this chamber through a p'pe pfin which case, of course, the pump Im and its motor will be omitted. n An emergency or fire hose qmay be carried. upon a bracketwithin the lower inner chamber 7c and connected with the street main r. For y providin -acc'ess -to thev up er -inner ladder V runs down into the latter chamber through the intermediate chamberk.

Exit from lthe chamber `to the roadway overhead is provided by any suitably arranged ,ladderl or preferably; a stairway s leading up to any suitable trap door at the street e walls or gratings S and h of the inner chambers. For this urpose a door t is provided in the wall k ofthe lowerchamber and in line with the door f o the tunnel, the-'door t being shown ajar'in Fig. 2 lfor convenience of illuse tration ,thou gh ordinarily it will stand closed.

Ordinarily .the electric conductors are arranged in conduits built into the wall K of the tunnel, such for example, as the conduits u, and they may be arrangedto run across the o enings C as illustrated, for example, at o. Vlihere thereis not sufficient room for them, however, in the positions statedor .where it is not desired to run them across the wall K or lifted above it as indicated respectively at'fwand f being merely @a catch basin, need not extend the entire len th of the .main chamber B. It may be consi erably shorter as shown in Fig. 1.. The inner chamber k also need only be of uch length asto provide convenient access rom the passage g through the tunnel Wall i' r f this chamber 'may 'besi honed off-and .the y lchambers Q an to the 'lowest cham er l, theI It will be understoodthat thev chamber l,

grating-side. wall h, and al gratingiioorg' disthe' vel andpassing up alongside the side A 120 openings C, they may be depressed below the to the intensifie of theha'mbp B 'where the stairway t is locat ed,and the main chamber B and succession of innerchainbersQ may be of less length than thesidewalk-grating over- \head.-` i

In`my other-'pending a plicationl above referred to there 1s 'djsclosefincommon .with this application, v'the ideal oi Ventilating tunnels or subways having passenger entrances 'passenger entrances andpoints intermediate etwen such entrances, and preferably. in the direction from` the passenger entrances to the intermediate points Aso that lpassengers -on entering 'the tunnel lor subway'. will recei've the immediate benefit of the 'freshest' air. Sucha. structure ;is claimed broadly in this application, regardless ofl the means o r [lation ofa'air; the other application beinglim- .ited to' means 'for causing the lcircu]ation by ger'st'ations causing a current 'which4 l.siarilyf discharged at th :For: this purpose. the air: orced 'in termediate points may be" cooledfo arrangement employed for causing the circu- -withd`rawing the air at the intermediate Thef-app'aratu's' hereinv 'illustrated .-or any necessary artvv or vmodification thereof, `may be fl-ocaterf adjacent to the v.j )as'senger Ae-ntrances to exhaust'the air at such-points; Or the chamber described may vbeI utilized yfor forcing theatmosiheric airl into the tunn l 'at points interino iate between -the pa s se assenge stat according to .the .seasonof v` t'.h"e -year and. the temperature of theoutside air. The attem- .perating ofthe air-,flor example, maybeperformed. kin the'side chamber before the 'air Mii entersthe tunnel'. The air may likewise-be .itsveloci ty-. Various .other modifications in detaily and 45'.. in' the arrangement and combinationfof the 'pointsand may bese'reene at the entrance;

takepbuttee d irtandat rheexit to break at intervals by causing a flow of air lon i-y .ftudinallythrough the'tunnel v.between t e airescapingthrough-the openingjin the Wall ofthetuhnel.- v I 5., A railway tunnel having a. chamber open to'the atmosphere and communicating my name in partsmay be made by those skilled'in the art Without departure from the invention.

' What' I claim is v n 1. A-tunnel having an opening through an overheadroadway and a .Ventilating opening for the escape of air through the wall of the tunnel and communicating with said locity. of the air coming from the opening through the tunnel 4Wallislessened andit escapes more slowly through the 4overhead roadway.A

3; A4 tunnel having a ventilatingopening through its wall and means outside ofthe.

tunnel foreompelling theair tov escape into ,the .outer atmosphere more slowly than it `passes through said opening.

'4. A ltunnel lhaving a. Ventilating opening through its wall, and a screen through which.v

the airfror'n said `opening passes, the aggreate'farea of the openings through said screen eing greater than the area of the current of withl the tunnel atapoint above the bottom of the chamber, so .that-.such bottom forms a 'catch basin forw ater.

. In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed witnesses.l

.HENRY BLAcKimN. Witnesses 4 l DOMINGO A. UsINA,

THEonoRE SHELL.-l

ss the presenceof two-subscribing4 

